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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23437480">baby, I’m right here with you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavenderlotion/pseuds/lavenderlotion'>lavenderlotion</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Darwin Lives, Fix-It, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, X-Men: First Class (2011)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:42:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,087</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23437480</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavenderlotion/pseuds/lavenderlotion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey, baby,” Darwin told him, voice easy and smile easier, lookin' <em>alive,</em> even if he looked real fuckin’ different. He sounded just like Alex remembered but even better, 'cause it was real and not echoin’ through his memories, so visceral that he couldn’t help but repeat the greeting again and again in his mind as it sounded fuckin’ perfect.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Armando Muñoz/Alex Summers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>baby, I’m right here with you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/gifts">flightinflame</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just wanted some fluff of my fav sweet boys ahhh</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Alex was dickin' around in the game room when the hair along the back of his neck stood up and goosebumps erupted over his arms. He was real used to bein' watched so he was real good at tellin' when he was, and he was sure as shit that there was someone in the game room with him. Alex didn't bother turnin' around to see who the hell it was, mostly 'cause he didn't care. He hadn't been feelin' too personable lately, not since his whole fucking world was torn apart as the fury inside his chest tore apart—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nah. That wasn't a line of thinkin' Alex needed to go down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not now, not ever, no matter what the hell Charles was tryin' to tell him about </span>
  <em>
    <span>releasing his emotions</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>moving on with the help of others.</span>
  </em>
  <span> The help of others hadn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever</span>
  </em>
  <span> done him good before and he was real fuckin' sure it wasn't gonna do him good now, so he kept to himself and shot off hoops of power like a goddamn lapdog. He paraded around in the ridiculous suit Hank made him and went to meals, but he didn't go outta his way to talk to no one, not when they couldn't do nothin' for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The only one who could, the only one who'd </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever</span>
  </em>
  <span> made Alex feel like maybe he wasn't so goddamn alone, like maybe someone could care for him after all the shit he'd been through and all the shit he'd messed up, wasn’t even fuckin’ here. There was a ring sittin' on his finger, feelin' heavier and heavier every damn day he woke up in a bed all on his own, that still didn't feel like it belonged to him. Gold band, gorgeous ruby, with the year of Mando's graduation engraved on the inside, and still felt like a physical representation of his grief every time he looked down at it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sighin', Alex accepted he wouldn't be playin' more games, not tonight. Finally, the starin' got to be too much, and a tension he didn't real like the feel of started buildin' up from his belly. He didn't wanna turn around 'cause he knew it was gonna mean dealin' with someone who'd pester him about bein' alone and try to make it seem like they didn't pity him when they </span>
  <em>
    <span>did,</span>
  </em>
  <span> even if Charles was the only one of them who knew Darwin had been more than just a friend to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fuck it. Alex wasn't scared of a few mutants, so with one last deep breath he turned around, already preparin' how he was gonna tell off whoever the hell it was that was botherin' him when his eyes caught on the one person he thought he'd </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> see again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“M-Mando?” Alex stuttered, rubbin' a hand down his face and scrubbin' over his eyes real roughly, tryin' to get the image in front of him to make a single damn lick of sense. His heart was racing', poundin' heavily against his chest which was so tight it was hard to breathe. He wasn't sure if he was panickin' or not, but he sure as hell felt real damn lost even as a painful, desperate type of hope started building inside his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, baby,” Darwin told him, voice easy and smile easier, lookin' </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive,</span>
  </em>
  <span> even if he looked real fuckin’ different. He sounded just like Alex remembered but even </span>
  <em>
    <span>better,</span>
  </em>
  <span> 'cause it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>real </span>
  </em>
  <span>and not echoin’ through his memories, so visceral that he couldn’t help but repeat the greeting again and again in his mind as it sounded fuckin’ </span>
  <em>
    <span>perfect.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Darwin held out a hand, dark skin lookin' like it was glowin' in the low light of the game room. The room was lit with soft, warm light from the lamp in the corner which made the angles of his face look sharp enough to cut. Even in the dim light, Alex couldn't help but get lost in a new, captivating set of eyes, breathless as he stared at the man he fuckin’ loved. They were all white, no iris, no pupil, just a glittering, expanse of pureness that Alex was impossibly drawn in by.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stumblin' forward, Alex barely kept himself on his feet till he got to Darwin and was able to raise a shakin' hand and press it against his cheek to feel that he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>real.</span>
  </em>
  <span> There was no stubble along his jaw, not a damn hint of the beard he used to sport, and Alex's fingers shook as he softly trailed them over his face. He didn't have eyebrows, didn't have any hair on his head, didn't have freakin' </span>
  <em>
    <span>anythin’,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but he had a pulse, and he was breathin', and he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>real.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dar, you're here,” Alex whispered, voice lost somewhere in his chest, not speakin' at more than a terrified whisper as if bein' too loud would prove that this wasn't real. Darwin nodded, and his hands were so, so cool when they grabbed Alex's hips, slippin' under his shirt and pressin' against his always-burnin' skin, feeling blissful just 'cause they were </span>
  <em>
    <span>real.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>God, he was terrified to believe it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, baby, I'm right here with you,” Darwin whispered, voice the same low, soothin' rumble it'd always been. “Sorry it took me so long to get back to you sweetheart, but you pack quite the punch.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I'm sorry—” Alex tried, voice breaking through his apology as the tears that'd been stingin' his eyes since he first realized that this was real and not a hallucination before spillin' over, real warm as they tracked down his cheeks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Darwin's hands let go of his waist and Alex made a </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span> desperate noise, but then Darwin's cool palms were cuppin' his cheeks and swipin' away his tears and then he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>kissin'</span>
  </em>
  <span> him, and it felt like he was breathin' for the first time in weeks, takin' the air right outta Darwin's lungs to finally fill his own as the ever-present pressure that'd been weighin' down his chest finally, finally eased.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you,” Alex pressed against his mouth, sayin' the words for the first time with shakin' breath and a racin' heart, feelin' the weight of Darwin's class ring around his finger and feelin' like it was just right, now that Darwin was back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Darwin smiled at him, white, straight teeth shinin' against his full lips, and the words felt like a revelation that lit up Alex's chest with the softest warmth he'd ever felt when he said, “Sugar, I love you too.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>comments &amp; kudos are always appreciated</p></blockquote></div></div>
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